preparation for THANKSGIVING!!!!

Since this year we are living in the HEARTLAND of Thanksgiving, we decided to do something about it. On Wednesday we drove to Plymouth, Massachussetts where we were able to experience Thanksgiving History first hand.

Our first stop was at Plymouth Rock. We piled out of the mini-van only to be assaulted by the coldest wind I've felt in a loooooong time. The wind was blowing so hard it was making the boy's eyes water so it looks like they're crying in all the pictures. I must say, Plymouth Rock isn't much to write home about. It's just not very intimidating as far as rocks go. But, hey...we can say we've seen it now. (And that's pretty much all that matters, right?)

Not far away was the MAYFLOWER II. It is a reproduction of what they think the original Mayflower must have been like based on the historical information they have. All of the employees working on the Mayflower II were in period costume and character. Max had fun running around the ship but Sam thought the "tween" deck (In between the cargo hold and the top of the ship) was just too dark and creepy and wanted nothing to do with it. (Probably much how the pilgrims felt after the first few days aboard.)

Our last historical stop of the day was at Plimouth* Plantation. This is a large area where they've recreated a Pilgrim settlement as well as a Wampanoag Indian settlement. In the Wampanoag settlement, all the employees were either actual Wampanoag Indians or from other Native American tribes. We got to walk around and talk to them about how they lived. One couple I talked to were cooking stew over a cook-fire and making a dumpling-like bread to go with it. It was pretty interesting.

In the Pilgrim settlement, we met some actual caucasian people of european descent. (Hey wait...that's what I am! That's not exciting!) Okay, so they were actors portraying the lives of various English colonists. They told stories of crossing on the Mayflower and answered all questions as if it were 1627. They were telling stories, building things, and generally just going about their business. Max got to help some woodworkers do some hammering and thought that was pretty cool.
Ya know, despite the fact that we're a million miles (and dollars) away from all of our family and friends, (new friends excepted) living out here does have its perks! We had a fabulous (if freezing) day and enjoyed learning about American history first hand.

Three cheers for PLYMOUTH!!!

*We learned that back in the day they didn't care much about spelling and just spelled things the way they sounded. Sometimes many different ways. (So Plimouth and Plymouth are the same thing.)